


When the Curtain Falls

by Effenay



Category: RWBY
Genre: Angst, Character Study, F/M, Fluff and Angst, Past Lives, Rosegarden ship, Slight Canon Divergence, Slow Burn, Tags and summary may change
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-12-29
Updated: 2018-01-21
Packaged: 2019-02-23 13:00:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,908
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13190619
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Effenay/pseuds/Effenay
Summary: "Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain"Ozpin lived many lives. In the years of plenty, to the years of famine and bloodshed; he carved his existence into the world in the forms of many men.As each day approaches, Oscar Pine sees fragments of the old soul's memories. With each memory he sees, he finds himself less and less of himself and becoming something else entirely.





	1. Secret Passage

The desert wind billowed under the scorching heat, melting and burning the skins of every metal-plated armour and weaponry. The vast ocean of sand; shards of Dust and ashen men; wounded warriors and fear-stricken generals alike ceased at the sight. Amidst the field of fire and bloodshed, he stood tall, leaning against his sword with his right hand; his sceptre on his left.

At the sight of the mighty king, all three rulers and their generals bowed down in reverence and fear. The King of Mantle gritted his teeth in anger and shame at the thought of defeat. The Mistral lord trembled to his knees. The ruler of Vacuo reverently bowed in awe of the warrior's strength. The warrior king, on the other hand, watched as they all trembled in their knees; each of them surrendering for reasons that any soldier could imagine.

 _I am not worthy,_ the man thought;  _what good is a king of the world, if he cannot protect his own people?_

"Raise your heads," the crowned man commanded. "I am not worthy of this seat."

* * *

 

In a frightful gasp, Oscar Pine lunged himself off of his bed, his heart pounded at the fragmented memories of his dream. Sweat cooled his back, as it tingled his senses into a shudder at the chill of the morning air.

 _That... dream again,_  he gave out a long breath,  _who were those people?_

Oscar turned his head, expecting to see the light of the first dawn to seep through his window, only to be reminded that he was no longer living in his aunt's residence. It's only been a few days since he settled into Mistral, living in a share house, to be exact. As each day passed, the memory of those mundane mornings seemed more and more like a dream than a passing memory. A part of him still found it unfathomable that the life that he has now has become his new reality.

 ** _Unfortunately for both of us, you're going to have to accept it,_** remarked the old soul.

The boy sighed at Ozpin's remark.

"There is no way I'm going to get used to this," he muttered.

And with that, he dragged his duvet out of the way and strode his way towards the draped window. Drawing the curtain aside, Oscar opened his window to let the cold air seep in, waking his senses bit by bit. After a life of working for almost ten hours a day, it became a habit to rise before the first sunrise.

He stood by as he watched the dark velvet hue slowly glow into a soft purple; the sight of the overlooking view captivated him. Though Qrow Branwen assured him that he didn't need to worry much about the lodging fees, the boy felt the need to find a way to repay them for their hospitality. After all, it must have cost more than a couple of thousand liens for a house of that size and location.

As he watched further on, the scene of multiple houses below was then overlapped with the sight of a vast sea of green that stretched out into the distance. Fragments of memories that were not his own overlapped with the present. The city of Mistral that he saw currently suddenly appeared to him as a forest without a hint of human life.

Just before his mind could register the sight of the prehistoric landscape, the first light of the morning beamed into his eyes. With a quick blink, his vision cleared as the fragmented image melded into the scenery.

He opened his mouth, only to close it shut as a wave of nostalgia took over his senses.

* * *

 

Oscar walked down the steps of the staircase, stretching his arms in the air as he did so. Being attuned to making an early start, he decided that it wouldn't hurt to start the day with a morning stroll around the area. There was something about the scenery earlier that urged him to do so, as these unfounded emotions tugged at him to see how much has the city progressed in the course of fifty years.

 _ **Don't stray too far,**  _Ozpin warned,  ** _remember that we still have a lot of work to do._**

"I won't," he muttered in reply.

He left a note on the table to notify the rest where he was at. The last thing he'd want was to have either of them panic when they find out that he was missing. After he grabbed an apple from its designated fruit bowl, he stuffed it in his pocket and headed straight to the door.

Just before he left, he pulled the laces of his boots even tighter and secured it with a knot; only to be stopped by the sound of a soft prodding on the floorboards from a distance.

He stood up, turned his head and saw a pair of worn-down boots prodding down the steps at a slow pace.

"Oscar?"

The boy flinched instinctively, the sound of her voice immediately shook his senses awake.

"Oh-hi. Good Morning, Ruby," he said feebly.

"Why're you up so early?" the red-haired girl yawned as she spoke.

"I... I was just going for a walk," he stammered, silently cursing himself for his sudden uneasiness. "I couldn't get back to sleep so, I, well... yeah."

 _Calm down,_ Oscar told himself,  _it's just Ruby._

"...Is something wrong?" she took a few steps down towards the base of the staircase.

"No, not really," he quickly said. "I just thought I wanted to see how much the city has changed over the past..." -he cleared his throat- "I mean- I just wanted to have a look around the area, that's all."

"Ooh~" her silver eyes gleamed in fascination, a look that reflected her sudden curiosity and excitement at the thought of going out to explore the area of the city.

With the honest look in her eyes, the boy then unknowingly added;

"Do you... want to join me...?"

 _Wait,_ he realised.  _Did I just-_

"Is that okay?" Ruby replied almost too eagerly. "I'm not going to be in the way, am I?"

Oscar made one good look at her and knew he couldn't bring himself to suddenly back out on his invitation.

"N-no, not really," he sheepishly replied as he turned to the door.

By the time they left the vicinity of the house, the path before them were dyed in sunlight and shadows by the first light of the morning. The high winds of Mistral and the morning air began to tingle Oscar's senses with each passing step he made. The scent of greenery and dewed earth began to tug foreign sensations from his chest; feelings of an unfounded amusement, excitement and melancholy all at the same time.

Turning to the red-caped girl, in his view, he saw her eyes sparkle in awe; watching the mountain ranges bathed in gold by the rising sun. In his lifetime, Oscar had seen many sunrises and sunsets pass him by, yet something about this moment made it different from the rest.

Was it because he was in Mistral?  
Was it because a charming girl who was 2 years older than him was walking right next to him?  
Or maybe it was because he was made aware of the impending threat that would soon fall a month from now?

"This place is awesome," she giddily said, her eyes were as wide as the fascinated smile on her lips. "I've never seen so many mountains like this before."

"Me too," he agreed, his eyes following her gaze towards the rolling hills nearby. "I never thought that sunrises in the city would be this amazing."

"So does that mean you've never been to Haven before?"

"I've only seen pictures of it in my Aunt's library," he answered, "Though, I never thought I'd be living in this part of Mistral. Even now, it's crazy for me to believe that I'm here."

"Yeah, the feeling's mutual," she shrugged. "I mean, our team  _did_  manage to get here on foot and rode on an airship to get here."

What then followed was a few exchanges between the two; Oscar would ask what route they took to get to Haven, while Ruby would tell him about their little 'adventure' in the villages of Anima. They walked along the open paths within the residential areas and would halt here and there as either of them would make short stops to admire the overlooking view. Initially, Oscar feared that their little stroll would be filled with an awkward silence, as he was aware that either of them barely knew each other. Thankfully his fears were unfounded, as the silver-eyed girl was eager just as she was curious to know a little bit of his life as a farmhand, enabling him to feel at ease with her around.

 _Oscar,_ hearing Ozpin's voice so suddenly brought the boy jolt in surprise.

"Is something wrong?" Ruby asked.

"I...It's nothing," Oscar answered quickly, then turned his attention to Ozpin in his thoughts,  _"Don't scare me like that."_

 _ **I'm sorry to interrupt your little stroll, but I suggest that we should be heading back to the house,**  _the old soul spoke in his usual regal mannerism.  ** _Remember that we still have work to do._**

 _Got it,_ the boy sighed and turned to Ruby.

"Ozpin said we should head back to the house."

"...Oh?" she quirked a brow. "What for?"

"Training...lessons..." he scratched his head, his slump shoulders slumped even lower. "I think he'd want us to start early, or something like that."

Oscar turned back towards the direction where they came from, only to notice something that he saw in the corner of his eye. The boy stood stalk-still, turned his head back towards the direction of a thicket he spotted a few feet away and narrowed his eyes.

"What's wrong?" Ruby asked.

The boy replied in silence, entranced at the sight of the over-grown shrubbery as the same weighted feeling began to overwhelm him.

"Hang on," he finally said. "I'll be right back."

 _ **It would be best to turn back,**  _Ozpin spoke cautiously.

"...Why so?" the boy muttered as he walked towards the direction of the thicket.

**_Whatever it is that you'd find there has already been passed._ **

Oscar steadily approached the over-grown shrubbery; with each step closer, the same weighted sensation of nostalgia and an unfounded sense of regret grew stronger.

 _What is this place?_  By the time he was no more than a few inches away from the shrubbery, he then raised his gloved hand to one of the flowers. The thicket was made up of lilacs with petals painted in crimson red; a colour he had never seen on lilacs before.

_So why-?_

"Oscar?"

The boy flinched and remembered that Ruby was with him. His eyes then turned to her, her silver-eyes reflected her concern and confusion.

"Sorry about that," he said, not wanting to trouble her even further. "It's just that I've never seen red lilacs before."

"...Oh," she said, seemingly relieved.

"My aunt has a small garden at her front," he added. "Sometimes she'd grow lilacs from time to time. So, yeah."

Remembering that they have to go back to the house, Oscar turned around and was about to head back until-

"Hey," the silver-eyed girl pointed. "Look."

Oscar's gaze followed where her finger was pointing at and spotted a small opening among the shrubbery. Without waiting for his reply, Ruby walked towards the opening and bent down to observe the apparent hole in the thicket.

"Doesn't this look like a scene from that book 'Violet's Garden'?" she said.

Oscar then bent down next to her and saw a small, wooded stairway through the small opening.

"Yeah, it does," he nodded, having known that he read that book not long before he left.  "The part where Violet finds the garden for the first time."

The girl's lips then curved into a mischievous smile. "Hey, where do you think this path will lead us?"

Oscar pondered the question and shrugged.

"Don't secret openings like this kinda make you want to enter them?"

"You mean-"

"-I'm going in."

"Huh-wai-"

Before he could finish, Ruby then crawled through the opening, leaving a trail of sounds of twigs snapping and rustling leaves. By the minute, Ruby was already deep into the passageway as she said aloud;

"Oscar, you have to see this."

Realizing that there's no point in stopping her, he then sighed defeatedly. The boy then followed her, feeling the sharp ends of the branches grazing his arms. It didn't take long for him to reach the other side, with Ruby, who was now standing, stretched out her hand to help him up. He gladly took it and felt the silver-eyed huntress pull him up to his feet.

He brushed off the dirt and loose leaves that gathered around his knees and head, thinking about how long it took for the two of them to reach the other side of the thicket. When he looked up to the stairway, he blinked at how low the branches were hanging from the trees that surrounded the path.

"The trees have grown thicker," he unconsciously said. "It looks like this place wasn't well maintained."

"Well, it does look like no one's been here for a very long time," Ruby said, patting the leaves off of her hood.

"Yeah, I guess so."

"Come on, let's see where it'll lead us," she said, grabbing his wrist as she pulled him along the stairway.

Oscar struggled to keep up with her pace, climbing up the steps with his free hand flailing in the air. With the sunlight beaming in front of them, the path was speckled with shadows from the trees. The boy narrowed his eyes at the sunlight that had occasionally blinded him whenever it caught his eyes.

_I've been here, before._

The same weighted feeling overwhelmed his senses, this time accompanied by images of the back of a woman who wore clothes that couldn't have been from this time period.

 _"We're almost there,"_ the woman spoke in a voice that he could no longer distinguish.

"We're almost there."

Oscar blinked and saw that it wasn't the full-grown woman before him, but Ruby, who continued to drag him along the stairway.

When the two reached the summit of the stairway, the first thing that Oscar saw was an open field covered with hay-like grass that stood at a knee's length from the ground. Under the light of the morning sun, it burned like a field of golden wheat, likened to his aunt's farming fields.

And yet, the very moment he blinked, the sight of golden fields were replaced by the sight of dozens of graves, abandoned and long-since neglected by time and its residents.

Ruby clasped a hand to her mouth in shock, whilst Oscar couldn't help but look at the desolate scenery.

"Ozpin," he muttered. "What is this place?"

 _...A graveyard,_ the old soul replied in his thoughts.  ** _A very old one._**

Oscar then walked a few paces closer to one of the graves and saw that they were either unmarked or eroded by time.

"Who are they? And why aren't they marked?"

 _Before kingdoms were established,_ Ozpin replied,  _ **this land was made up of villages and tribes. And much like the days before the Great War, there were... skirmishes here and there between them.**_

The boy approached one of the graves, unaware that Ruby trailed behind him. He bent down before one of them and remembered the woman he saw in one of his fragmented memories.

"Who was she?" he asked.

**_A very good friend._ **

Even without telling him, Oscar knew that this grave was hers. Though her face was one that he couldn't recognize, deep in his gut, Oscar knew she must have been important to the old soul. Judging by the current state of the grave, this particular grave was made generations before the professor was even born.

 _That was all in the past,_ the professor assured him.  ** _But now, he has to look forward to the present. What you'll find here is no more than fragments of another's past mistakes._**

"What did professor Ozpin say?"

Oscar cocked his head back towards Ruby.

"It's kinda hard to say," he scratched his head. "This place is centuries. Perhaps even a thousand years older than the war."

The boy then stood up and straightened his back.

"There's not much to see here," he added. "This is all there is to this place."

Wordlessly, he then made his way back towards the path, but paused for a moment and found that Ruby hadn't moved a muscle when he turned around.

"Ruby?" he called out.

"..."

She remained still in silence, from where he stood, he saw her head pointing towards the direction of the field of graves, as if contemplating the losses.

The scenery alone reminded him of the impending fate that they are yet to face, aware of a war that is yet to come. Ruby then turned her back to the graves and trailed after him, and in silence, the two of them made their way back to the house.

Though Oscar and Ozpin were neither aware of it, Ruby left a single lilac flower on top of the unmarked grave.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, that turned pretty dark... I was hoping to write happy and well, the angst just had to come in. oops.  
> But yeah, I can't really guarantee how often I'm going to update this, but we'll see how long this goes.  
> By all means, please don't hold back on grammarly issues. I'm still bad at it.  
> Oh and btw, to all you patient readers of my *other* unfinished fics... I'm on a writer's block on them. so sorry guys... hopefully. hopefully, I'll get my groove back.


	2. Fragmented Memories

Qrow read the note. Studied it, mind you, as he often pondered what it was like to be an experienced soul to be stuck into a young man's body. He felt sorry for the kid, but, more than that, having Ozpin around was the first sigh of relief on their side.

But right now, with Ruby nowhere in sight, he could only make two conclusions.

A: his niece accompanied the boy during his outing.  
B: she read the note and decided to look for him.  
C: probably headed towards the open market, window-shopping at the weapons she saw when first they arrived at Mistral.

 _Nope, that was three guesses._ He sighed.

Though Vale did have their own version of criminal underbellies, Mistral was ironically more open and susceptible to encounters with the criminal networks. He should know; after all, he was once part of it. Which is exactly why he didn't like the idea of options B and C.

Qrow looked at the three students who gathered around the note on the table.

"So," Ren began. "If Ruby's not here and Oscar's left a note, is it possible she followed him?"

"Let's hope that's the case," Jaune muttered.

"Relax," the lightning conductor cheerfully slapped Jaune's back. "With Ozpin in Oscar and Ruby with him, there's nothing to worry about."

"That's only  _if_ she's  _with_ them."

Nora grunted at her team leader's pessimism.

Though Qrow had faith that his niece is alright, his own experience taught him to never deny any possible outcome.

"Look," Qrow pointed. "As long as those two are within this district, there's nothing for you to worry about. Remember what I told you? The higher you are, the safer it gets."

He took his out his scroll and glanced over the list of names on his screen.

"Well then," Qrow slipped his scroll into his breast pocket. "I'll be off."

He was about to reach for the doorknob until he heard the sound of footsteps from the other side, followed by the voice of a very concerned Oscar.

"Did you lock the door before we left, by any chance?"

"...Ah, nope," Qrow heard his niece reply.

"Oh-"

Qrow sighed and turned the knob. The very moment the door swung open, his eyes were met with the sight of Ruby making her usual 'oops-I-forgot' smile towards the boy. The boy on the other hand immediately widened his eyes a little when Qrow made eye contact with him.

"Heh," the red-eyed man smirked.  _Don't think I didn't see that kid-_

"-Uncle Qrow!" his niece interrupted his thoughts. "Good morning."

"Morning, pipsqueak," he walked through the door and knocked her head lightly. "If you had left a note like this kid over there," -he pointed at Oscar- "The morning would've been much quieter."

His red-caped niece laughed guiltily as she rubbed her head where he knocked her. Turning to Oscar, Qrow asked;

"How's the walk?"

"...It was good," the boy replied.

"Hmph," Qrow smirked again and was in the mood to push buttons. "Glad you enjoyed your little  _date_  around the district."

The boy immediately turned red on the spot.

"What are you, four?" Ruby nudged her uncle. "We were just walking and-"

"-talking while sight-seeing. Yeah, it's a date." the veteran hunter jeered.

"Qrow!"

He chuckled in amusement as he strode past the two kids with his hands in his pockets.

**_"I take it that you won't be back for a while?"_ **

Qrow stopped in his tracks and turned towards Oscar. The boy, who often slouched in his stance now straightened his back with his hands hanging on either side of his body.

_Ozpin._

"I won't be back for a couple of days," Qrow shrugged. "Give me a week or two and expect more company when I come back."

Qrow didn't wait for the former professor's reply and turned around, making his way down the slope.

 _Just like old times,_ he thought.

* * *

 

It took Oscar a full minute to realize that he was no longer in control over his own actions. And through his hazel eyes, after the veteran huntsman's silhouette dissolve into the distance, he saw himself move against his own accord.

 _Wait Ozpin,_ Oscar thought in panic.  _Since when did you-_

 _ **"Alright,"**  _the professor began, navigating his eyes towards Ruby and the rest of the crew.  ** _"We'll start training down at the training hall after you've had your breakfast. Take what you need for practice."_**

The students grimaced, as they all seemed to realize that this was going to be their first lesson from the headmaster himself. It made Oscar ponder just of what kind of man  _Professor_ Ozpin was in Beacon Academy.

"I wonder if he's anything like Goodwitch," Nora muttered.

Ozpin chuckled,  ** _"If I was anything like Professor Goodwitch, would it put your mind at ease?"_**

"Haha... maybe?"

* * *

 

Having to see the world through his own eyes and yet not being able to take control still felt foreign to him. It was troublesome, in fact, knowing that once the old soul handed over the reigns, he would find himself in a position where everyone in the room would be watching him.

 _ **"Alright, Oscar,"**  _the old soul said after explaining just about the basics of activating his aura and the basics hand-to-hand combat.  ** _"Let's see how  you'll fair with this."_**

_-Huh?_

Before he knew it, Oscar was in a position where Ruby was about to charge at him with her fist, winding back for an impending sucker-punch.

**_Dodge it._ **

Oscar couldn't tell whether it was him or Ozpin, but instinctively, his body swiftly moved aside; dodging the blow mid-panic. Ruby then threw the other fist, and for a split-second, Oscar saw her slight hesitation and ducked right before she could even graze the crown of his head. After the second swing, he considered the possibility that neither of them seemed to be taking this seriously.

"W-wait!"

Ruby stopped mid-way when Oscar raised his hand before she could even wind back her arm for the third swing.

"S-sorry," Oscar huffed. "It's just that- I wasn't mentally prepared for it-"

 _I **f this was a real battle right now, your opponent wouldn't hesitate to strike,**  _the professor chided.

"I know that," the boy muttered.

 _ **You have to take this seriously,**  _the old soul continued.  ** _I'm going to need you to co-operate with Miss Rose. Between the two of you, if I recall, you at least had 'some' experience in a fist-fight._**

"That was some stupid joke that my uncle pulled off. That doesn't count-"

Realizing that he had an audience, Oscar blinked and looked at the red-caped girl tilting her head in clear confusion. Nora and Jaune shared the same look as Ruby whilst Ren had his eyes closed as he sat on the ground in a meditative position.

"...Is everything okay there?" Ruby asked slowly.

"...Yeah, everything's fine," the boy said quickly. "Just a tip from Oz, that's all."

The boy then took a deep breath, exhaled, and fixed his stance into a defensive form. "Alright. I'm ready."

The caped girl smirked and charged at him with a battle cry. Oscar then parried her attack with his arm, only to have it throb the very moment of impact.  Instinctively, he swung a fist right to her shoulder, landing a blow, but not hard enough for Ruby to falter.

 _Shoot,_ he thought mid-way as he dodged another blow.  _I forgot-!_

Ruby grunted, raised her foot in the air and kicked him in the right shin, bringing him to fall on one knee. When he did, Ruby hesitated for a moment, enabling Oscar to throw a kick to the side, resulting in having Ruby fall flat on her back.

"You okay?" Oscar asked when he realized what had just happened.

The caped girl groaned. "I'm fine~"

He offered out his hand to her, to which she took it and helped her get back on her feet.

"I don't know if I should bring this up," he began. "But for a moment I saw you hesitate. So, I-"

"Yeah, that was my fault, hehe... I should have taken this seriously."

"Well, I guess that makes two of us, then." He then resumed holding his position and added. "Shall we start over?"

"Alright, I won't hold back," she nodded and took her stance.

And with that, their sparring resumed; this time, Ruby kept her word and didn't hesitate. Oscar, on the other hand, found himself on defence against her attacks, granted that she was faster now than previously. For a moment, he felt like he was missing something, something that was essential to a scenario like this.

When the thought flew by for a moment, Ruby took the opportunity to throw her fist towards his chest. An image of a man raising his hand against him to deliver the finishing blow unveiled in his thoughts for a moment, enabling Oscar to cross his arms across his chest to defend himself.

Despite his guard against her attack, the impact of her fist brought a swelling pain on the same arm that he used to guard the previous attack.

 _Shoot,_  he clicked his tongue, realizing what he had forgotten to do.  _I forgot about aura._

* * *

 

_"Here."_

_A large hand was extended before him._

_He looked up, and the first thing he saw was a pair of silver-eyes looking down upon him. The man found himself on the floor, his body weary and worn from the brutal training he had to go through._

_"Sorry about that," the silver-eyed man said. "The other you said that I should stop holding back."_

_"Don't apologize. It was all that guy's fault for dragging me into this mess."_

_"Still," the warrior hauled the man up to his feet. "It'd be bad if you keep breaking your aura that easily. Don't get me wrong, you're good, but not that good- if that makes sense. Up against a grim, two strikes from their claws and-" the warrior drew a line with his thumb across his throat, "-You know how it is."_

* * *

 

The very moment Oscar stirred himself awake, the first thing he saw were the heads of the four Beacon students looking down on him; all sharing the same looks of concern. With the sky dyed with an amber glow, he then recalled how he managed to find himself sprawling on the ground. For a moment, the fragmented memory of the silver-eyed man overlapped with the senses of the present. Unconsciously muttering a name that sounded foreign, yet, nostalgic the very moment it passed his lips.

_"Umber...?"_

"... Um...You okay there?"

Oscar groaned as he stirred himself upright. "Yeah."

"Well, at least he's able to activate his aura without Oz's help."

"Give him some space. I'm certain that he's just tired from all that."

 The boy then found himself straining the very moment he tried to pull himself up to his feet, wincing at the heaviness of his muscles.

"We should call it a day," said Ren. "At least we all made some progress this time around. Can you stand?"

"No," Oscar shook his head wearily. "I don't think I can."

Ren then turned to Jaune and nodded.

The two huntsmen students then lent the boy a hand, taking him by his two arms from either side to help him up.

"H-hang on," Oscar stopped them just before they could start dragging him inside. "I think-  _*huff*_ I... I think I can walk..."

"You blacked out just a few seconds ago," Jaune pointed. "At the very least let us help you go back to your room."

Though exhausted, Oscar wearily flustered at how pathetic he must have appeared. The boy shifted his gaze to Jaune and Ren, somewhat envious of them being able to endure the strain of activating their aura. Compared to Jaune's, the boy's aura was no more than a thin sheet of paper.

 ** _You're still young,_** the professor tried assuring him.  ** _In due time, you'll be able to stand up on your own two feet._**

 _I'm not in the mood for a lecture,_ the boy retorted back in thought.

Though the walk was slow, the three managed to climb the stairway and have Oscar slump to the sofa wearily. Ruby and Nora who had trailed behind the boys then asked if anyone had plans for the rest of the day. With Ren already preparing for dinner, Jaune said he had nothing better to do as he handed over a damp cloth for Oscar.

"I think I'm going to rest a little bit," Oscar answered when asked. He took the damp cloth and placed it over his eyes, leaned back against the sofa and sighed exhaustedly. "Give me twenty minutes, and I think I'll feel better."

"...Well, if you say so," said Ruby.

"At this rate," Oscar muttered low enough for other not to hear, "I don't think I could do this..."

He took a few long breaths until he felt the tensions of his nerves easing. Not before long, his mind was clear, enabling his body to relax. The oddities that the day had brought him gave him little time to himself, let alone being able to find some sense of assurance of sorts. As long as he could remember, he never had a care of such matters, as he was always preoccupied with the menial tasks that were handed over to him. Though dreams were the only thing that he could claim for himself, the actions he took were often stemmed from the influence of his relatives'.

Having thought of his relatives, he was then reminded of the aunt whom he left behind.

 _By now, I wonder if she'll be mad at me,_ he thought.

 

He could only imagine how leaving a note wouldn't be enough to assure her of his decision to leave. But as his thoughts continued to run on the subject, the sight of a weeping child came to mind, clinging to the fabric of his pants.

 _"Do you have to go, brother?"_ Oscar imagined what the child would say.

 _"Don't worry,"_ he found himself replying.  _"When this mission is over, I will come back, I swear."_

The five-year-old refused to let go of him, shaking his head as the small boy denied his words.

_"That's what father said! He lied to us!"_

Oscar smiled sadly, aware of the stakes when he agreed to take part of this mission.

_"I promise you, I will come back. Without fail. So, be a good boy and do as Mother says, alright?"_

 

"Dinner's ready!" Nora announced heartily.

The sound of Nora's voice jolted Oscar back to his senses; reminding him that he didn't have a little brother, nor was he old enough to be a professional huntsman. Just the thought of the vivid images that played with his head left a bad taste in his mouth.

* * *

 Under the light of the pale moon, the ebony-haired boy leaned against the bars of the balcony, his elbow resting on the rail as he sighed despondently.

"Ozpin," he said in earnest. "Care to explain why I'm seeing those things?"

**_And which of those things are you referring to?_ **

"While we were training, or even after that. Those things that I'm remembering. Those aren't my memories. They're yours, aren't they?"

_**Yes, in a matter of speaking. They are our memories; memories of my previous forms. One lifetime I was a faunus, another life I was human. I was a slave to a lord once, just as I was once a lord of slaves. A student under tutelage to a headmaster of Beacon Academy. Having to walk this earth in many forms for so long, the memories that you inherit from me will take time to for you to process. Normally under such circumstances, it would be gradual. But since our souls have combined too soon, I could only assume that the process of these memories will come to you in larger portions.** _

"Has this... happened to your previous self?"

**For my case, it was more or less something that came to fruition at a gradual rate. Almost like an everyday occurrence, in a matter of speaking.**

"Then..." Oscar swallowed hard as he slowly pieced it together. "Will I... still be... me?"

The old soul replied in silence, as a cold wind billowed right through Oscar within that same instant. He hugged himself against the cold and for a moment, the question he posed slipped his mind.

"So that's where you were."

Oscar then turned around and saw Ruby at the door.

"...Do you... want something?" the boy asked.

"Nope, just checking," the red-caped girl answered. "I'm mean, you really looked like you were having a hard time and all."

"Ah, haha," Oscar winced at the memory of his collapse. "I guess that was pretty obvious from pro huntsmen like you."

"Correction, we still haven't graduated yet. Or license for that matter."

"Oh."

Yeah," Ruby strode to Oscar's side. "I mean, Professor Ozpin said it himself, right? That we all have a long way to go to even guard against bigger threats."

Oscar nodded as he listened, with all things considered, he couldn't help but be impressed. Being able to keep a levelled head at accepting her weaknesses.

"I've got to try harder," he muttered to himself.

Ruby tilted her head quizzically.

"Ah, I was just talking to myself. Sorry about that."

Ruby paused for a moment and said; "Does Professor Ozpin tell you how to strengthen your aura?"

"Yeah, But the way he vaguely explains things is his way of saying 'go figure this out by yourself'."

This earned Oscar a chuckle from Ruby.

 "I can actually see him doing that."

With a pat on his shoulder, Ruby then added; "Well, you could always ask any one of us if you're still having trouble figuring it out."

The girl then turned around and headed straight towards the door, but paused briefly to turn back towards his direction.

"Come on, it's getting late," she gestured. "You wouldn't want to catch a cold staying up in this cold place. Don't forget to lock the door on your way in."

"I won't," he smiled.

 

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In all honesty, this was a hard one to write. Not that it was super emotional, but with real life in the way, you can't help but get patchy in the imagination/ flow of the story.
> 
> If something feels off with this chapter, feel free to point it out. I'm open to suggestions and criticism.

**Author's Note:**

> Well, that turned pretty dark... I was hoping to write happy and well, the angst just had to come in. oops.  
> But yeah, I can't really guarantee how often I'm going to update this, but we'll see how long this goes.  
> By all means, please don't hold back on grammarly issues. I'm still bad at it.  
> Oh and btw, to all you patient readers of my *other* unfinished fics... I'm on a writer's block on them. so sorry guys... hopefully. hopefully, I'll get my groove back.


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